


in the beau monde

by tickatocka



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 11:04:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2848604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tickatocka/pseuds/tickatocka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I should be able to do this. I should be able to go to a goddamn party, Steve.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	in the beau monde

**Author's Note:**

> prompted by [seamusodorky](http://seamusodorky.tumblr.com), who requested steve/bucky and "first black tie after the iceberg and getting Bucky back to normal." cross-posted [[here](http://tickatocka.tumblr.com/post/106114782826/seamusodorky-requested-steve-bucky-and-first)] at my tumblr.

"They only have champagne," a voice came over Steve's shoulder, breaking his attention away from the way Natasha and Sam were floating over the dance floor in some kind of slow waltz.

Steve turned to Bucky, whose eyes were wide and anxious. He was holding a champagne flute in each hand but his gaze was stuck to the one in his metal grip, the delicate glass stem of it in sheer contrast with the hard silver glint of his fingers. He was worried about breaking it, Steve knew.

They had been over this, training his artificial hand to be pressure-sensitive, rehearsing how the night would go, what they should do if something went wrong, what Bucky should do if he felt a panic attack coming on. But practice didn't prepare Bucky for the photographers outside the entrance and the flashes and yelling that accompanied them, or the way it felt to have so many eyes on him at once, to be so visible and vulnerable. And Steve understood.

Steve smiled, accepting the champagne flute from Bucky's artificial hand. He'd make it easier for Bucky, at least; at home, he would've challenged him, taken the flute from Bucky's other hand, made Bucky learn to be comfortable with fragility. But now wasn't the time.

"Champagne's fine, Buck," Steve told him. He took a small sip, holding Bucky's gaze as Bucky mirrored the movement with feigned nonchalance.

Steve could practically see the tension strung tight across the man's muscles. His shoulders were raised, his movements sudden and spasmodic. His neck twitched whenever someone laughed, and his eyes kept flickering around the room as if looking for exit routes.

"Bucky," Steve said.

Bucky's jaw clenched. The champagne flute wobbled between his fingers. His flesh-and-bone hand was trembling. " _Steve_."

Steve finished the champagne in one gulp and put the glass on a passing server's tray before he took Bucky's hand, lacing his fingers through metal-jointed ones. Bucky took another sip from his glass and looked away.

Steve turned to face him fully. "Hey," he murmured, and brought his other hand to Bucky's waist, just inside Bucky's black jacket. He let his fingers press into the warm fabric of Bucky's dress shirt. "Look at me."

A sigh slid from Bucky's lips; he only met Steve's eyes after another sip of champagne, and when he did, his expression was almost petulant.

"We _can_ leave," Steve told him, gentle and unbiased.

Bucky's gaze dropped to his champagne. "No." A pause; and then, "I should be able to do this. I should be able to go to a goddamn _party,_ Steve."

_Ah_. That had been why Bucky had been so determined to come; why he had suggested attending the event himself; why he had convinced Natasha and Sam to join them. He needed to _prove_ something.

"You _can_ do this," Steve said. He let his hand slide up Bucky's shirt and around his side, pulling Bucky closer. "I know you can. But you don't _have_ to."

Bucky's expression seemed to harden, but then all at once his shoulders dropped and the air rushed from his lungs in a sigh. He let his head dip forward, and Steve leaned in to press his forehead to Buck's.

"We can leave as soon as you want, and we can stay as long as you want." Steve raised the plated hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on the back of it, smiling. "I'm right next to you, Buck, either way."

Bucky swallowed hard, nodded. "I know." And then he smiled, the first genuine smile all night. He squeezed Steve's hand. "With me 'til the end of the line, and all."

Steve laughed, bringing an actual grin to Bucky's face. "Damn right," he said, and then, softer: " _Damn_ right."


End file.
